Roky Erickson Enlists the Help of Okkervil River for His First Album in 14 Years

Sometimes even the most distinguished musicians need a little help in the studio. In the case of former 13th Floor Elevators frontman Roky Erickson, he recently called upon fellow Austinites Okkervil River to help out on his new album, enlisting Will Sheff as a producer and the rest of the band as guest musicians. Erickson’s new album, True Love Cast Out All Evil, is his first for ANTI- and is due April 20. The album primarily consists of unreleased songs that Erickson wrote throughout the course of his lengthy career, touching upon such varied subjects as mental illness, imprisonment, loss, and love.

Will Sheff revealed his thoughts about working on Erickson’s record in a press release: “I feel truly lucky that I got to produce this record,” Sheff said. “This record has been the most challenging and rewarding thing I’ve ever worked on, and we in Okkervil River were deeply honored to show up decades later and help Roky carry these wonderful songs over the finish line.”

Lush arrangements and production. Evocative, sensual performances. Fascinating lyric plots laced with subtle humor. Man, it’s good to have Tindersticks back! While you were sleeping, the masters of simmering melodrama softly ambled back onto the scene hellbent on tearing your heart in two (dozen!) with tales of brutal betrayal and bittersweet love. Their newest disc ‘n’ download, Falling Down a Mountain, is coming February 16 via Constellation (January 25 in Europe on 4AD) and features a caterwauling vocal performance by Mary Margaret O’Hara (the much-lauded 1988 Miss America album, Morrissey’s “November Spawned a Monster”).

Compelling on record, devastating live. That’s the Tindersticks way. We cannot aver with certainty that North American dates are due, but it’s a good bet that occidentals will be able to see Stuart Staples and company in their ‘hood sometime in 2010. European tindersticklers (eh, it’s a nickname in progress…) can see their heroes starting at the beginning of February.

Omar Rodríguez-López has been a busy, busy man. After releasing half a dozen solo albums in 2009, he’s kicking off 2010 with a worldwide directorial debut in February at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. Even more impressive, not only did The Mars Volta member direct the film The Sentimental Engine Slayer, but he also wrote it and played the lead role. The transition from musician to filmmaker is growing in popularity (RZA’s doing it, reports the Los Angeles Times), but it’s still not the most common one in show biz. Unsurprisingly, the trailer (available at the Chocolate Grinder) feels more like the start of a music video than a preview for a feature film. Beginning with a false calm, it becomes an erratic mélange of vaguely violent scenes full of splattered blood, sweaty faces, and a lifeless youth on the side of the road. It says very little in terms of synopsis, but rather sets the tone for an hour and a half of stylized abjection and helplessness.

The story is not really a new one: a troubled boy struggles to grow into manhood in a protracted coming-of-age tale (the character is already in his 20s). Set and filmed in El Paso, TX, Slayer writhes with angst as Barlam (Rodríguez-López) trudges through the banality of life: divorced parents, an addict sister (with whom he has an incestuous relationship?) — you get the picture. In search of that ever-elusive answer to post-adolescent disillusionment, Barlam’s world degenerates into a base nightmare of drugs and sex, finally confusing what is real and what isn’t.

The Sentimental Engine Slayer is part of the “Bright Future” section of the IFFR, which purportedly showcases “the most important, idiosyncratic and adventurous new work” from first- and second-time directors. However, Slayer – while Rodríguez-López’s first public release – is his third work as a director. In 2001 and 2003, he directed A Manual Dexterity and Letters from Dystopia, respectively. Moreover, since filming Slayer in 2007, the obscenely prolific Rodríguez-López has finished shooting two more: El Divino Influjo De Los Secretos in 2008 and Boiling Death Request (2009). What’s next on the list of mediums to explore? Interpretive dance?

Can we say punk-rap now? Or even rap-punk? Have enough people forgotten about Linkin Park? Have Beastie Boys fans given up on the insane notion that Mike D and company were viable punk rockers? Hell, even if punk-rap or its vice-versa were an accepted genre label, it’d be silly to assign the mighty P.O.S. with such a label. Sure, the dude is all “aggressive” and plays “electric guitar” and stuff, but come on. Let’s quit distilling interesting performers down to the most basic terms that are comfortable to us. Mainly what I’m saying is: just see P.O.S. live. As a man who was not disappointed by his live concert show, I feel comfortable giving the Mike McHugh Guarantee that you, too, probably won’t be disappointed by his performance either. So let’s put ourselves out there, America! Go vegan or go home!